Careers in Preventive Medicine

What type of careers can you pursue if you complete a preventive medicine residency? Well, let's look at one example. If you visit the University of Maryland Preventive Medicine Residency (PMR) Program website, you'll see a section called "Positions Held by Graduates." Here's what you'll see on that page:

• Federal
• Project Officer, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
• Epidemiologist, National Center for Health Services Research
• Project Evaluation, Food and Drug Administration
• Director of Refugee Health, U.S. Public Health Service
• Branch Chief, >National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases


• Public Health
• Director, Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Maryland State Health Department
• Health Officer, Department of Health, Charles County, Maryland
• Director, Department of Public Health, Waterbury, Connecticut
• AIDS Medical Consultant, Baltimore County Health Department
• Chief, Center for Community Epidemiology, Maryland State Health Department


• Private Industry
• Occupational Medicine, ARMCO Steel Corporation, Pennsylvania
• Associate Director of Epidemiology, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme
• Director of Epidemiology, Abbott Laboratories


• Clinical Preventive Medicine
• Department of Family Medicine, Spartanburg S.C. Regional Medical Center
• Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Health Plan, Baltimore, Maryland
• Primary Prevention Program, Group Health Association, Washington, D.C.
• Medical Director, CMC Eastpoint, Baltimore, Maryland


• Academic Medicine
• Assistant Chief, Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
• Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Rochester School of Medicine
• Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of South Carolina

The nice thing about a preventive medicine residency is that you'll come out with an extra degree: an MPH. You're saving on tuition, plus you're receiving a salary as a resident, so it's actually a really great deal. Remember that several preventive medicine residency programs do not participate in ERAS, so you'll have to do some research to learn more about them. Speaking of ERAS, here's what you'll see on their site regarding Preventive Medicine:

Preventive Medicine specialties focus on the health of individuals, communities and defined populations. Preventive Medicine's three specialty areas share common core competencies, but emphasize different populations, environments or practice settings: 1) Public Health/General Preventive Medicine (PH/GPM), 2) Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM), and 3) Aerospace Medicine (AM).

PH/GPM manages population-based & individual prevention in clinical, academic, public health, and private settings. http://www.acpm.org.

OEM deals with populations & individuals, by promoting health & productivity, prevention & treatment of illness and injury in workers & in people with environmental exposures. http://www.aoec.org.

AM promotes the health and well-being of crew and passengers involved in air & space travel. http://www.asma.org.